The invention relates to a device for connecting two rigid tubular objects, comprising a male part and a female part which are interconnectable.
Many types of couplings are known which are intended for interconnecting two hoses or a hose and a tube, i.e. at least one of the objects is made of an elastic material. PCT/SE96/01752 discloses, for instance, a female part in the form of a sleeve with resilient tongues and a male part in the form of a tube portion with transverse edges in its outer wall. When inserting the male part into the female part, the resilient tongues are arranged to resiliently snap into place behind the transverse edges of the male part and hence connect the female part to the male part. Thus, this structure only works if the tongues arranged in the female part are resilient. This in its turn means that at least the female part has to be attached to an object which is made of an elastic material, such as a conventional hose, to allow the female and male part to be separated by being turned.
However, none of the known couplings may be used for connecting two rigid objects, such as two tubes which are made of a rigid, nonelastic material since also the female part in this case is made of a rigid material.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a coupling device which can be used for connecting two rigid, preferably tubular objects such as two rigid plastic tubes.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a device of the above-mentioned type, characterised in that the female part comprises a sleeve which at one of its ends is connected to or constitutes an inegral part of one of the above-mentioned objects and at its other end is provided with at least one recess, that he male part comprises a tube portion which at one of its ends is connected to or constitutes an integral part of the other of the above-mentioned objects and at its other end in its outer wall is provided with at least one transverse edge, and that a sleeve-shaped element is arranged to be placed between the parts when inserting the male part into the female part, the element being provided with at least one resilient tongue with a first means which is arranged to resiliently engage the recess of the female part when inserting the element into the female part, and a second means which is arranged to resiliently snap into place behind the transverse edge of the male part when inserting the male part into the element, the resilient tongue allowing the female part and the male part to be separated by turning the element relative to the male part to a position where the second means of the resilient tongue is arranged laterally of the transverse edge of the male part and/or by moving the first means of the resilient tongue out of engagement with the recess of the female part.
Moreover, the coupling device according to the invention is a simple as well as reliable coupling device which is also inexpensive to produce.
Other preferred features of the coupling device according to the present invention will be described in the appended claims.